Sri Lanka seeks investment, but China questions linger

26.09.2018

A decade after the Sri Lankan Civil War, the country’s economy is growing fast. The government has big plans, but high debt levels — and high levels of Chinese influence — cast a cloud as the country seeks investors.

This reliance on Chinese money is part of a long-standing Sri Lankan problem. With a major trade deficit, as well as crippling levels of debt, the country needs foreign money. China has rushed to fill the gap more enthusiastically than anyone else.

The current Sri Lankan government came to power in 2015, when it replaced former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration. His government had been unabashedly eager to seek Chinese money, regardless of the costs, and it left the incoming government with a major web of deals — and debt — to untangle.

The need to diversify Sri Lanka's export base, and indeed to woo other sources of foreign investment, has been a clear platform of the current government's strategy.

It's part of the reason why a high-powered business and government delegation, led by the country's minister of development strategies and international trade, Malik Samarawickrama, has been visiting Germany this week.

Expanding exports, attracting investment

"We have just launched a national export strategy in Sri Lanka," Indira Malwatte, chairperson of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, told DW during her visit to Berlin.

"We have identified electronic and electrical components, food processing, ship building and information and communications technology as areas where we could attract German companies to come and invest in the country."

Close to 50 percent of Sri Lankan exports are from the clothes and textiles sector, while tea alone accounts for 10 percent. The need to expand and diversify that base is clear.

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As well as expanding its export base, the Sri Lankan economic strategy also includes cultivating a reputation as a regional hub for start-ups in the IT sector.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena with German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Sameera Nilupul, the fresh-faced founder of a human digitalization and computer graphics company in the capital Colombo, told DW that since he founded the company in 2015 with two other people, it has grown to have a staff of 32 and is thriving. He says that the Colombo start-up environment has blossomed rapidly over the last few years and that the potential for further expansion and innovation is obvious.

Sri Lanka's contentious port projects

But it is impossible to avoid the China questions. The signature selling point on this trade mission is "Port City," an ambitious project which seeks to reclaim 269 hectares of land from a section of Colombo's port and turn it into a special financial zone and international financial center.

"A financial hub where south Asians could come and experience a standard of living and services that they cannot experience anywhere else in the region at the moment," Liang Thow Ming, chief sales and marketing officer for the project, told DW.

Given that the land reclamation stage is not yet completed, and that the official plans say Port City may not be fully operational for at least 25 years, the project is in its extremely early days.

Yet whether these ambitious plans say more about China's intentions or Sri Lanka's is an important question. The project is powered by Chinese money and is being driven by the China Harbor Engineering Company, a subsidiary of the massive state-owned China Communications Construction Company.

China's level of involvement in Sri Lanka's business strategy has led to accusations that it has wider motives, particularly in the context of its continuing involvement in several territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

"I think we understand those concerns," Liang, a native of Singapore, told DW. "Whether we endorse those concerns is a separate issue altogether. What we have, in real estate terms, is a willing seller, willing buyer situation.

"You have a country, Sri Lanka, which is in need of investments. They can't find investments anywhere else. They try to get investments from China, and China, coincidentally, is looking to invest. Therefore, there is a match."

Pursued by the Rajapaksa government and backed by vast sums of Chinese money from the start, the port has so far proven not to be economically successful, with critics saying this is because the area is far too underpopulated and has inadequate industry and infrastructure to sustain an international port.

The criticism has intensified since China took ownership of the port as a result of the fact that Sri Lanka could not service its debt on it.

International trade minister optimistic about Hambantota's future

A recent article in TheNew York Times laid out in extensive detail how the acquisition of the port unfolded, as well as highlighting concerns that China's intentions went beyond mere economics.

Malik Samarawickrama, the Sri Lankan International Trade Minister, told DW in Berlin that the accusations in the article were "baseless and unfair" and said that the new government had developed a new plan to make the port viable.

"Earlier there was no plan," Samarawickrama said. "They [the previous government] built it and were just waiting for things to happen. But now we have set up a business plan and we are sure that in four or five years' time, we can achieve it. We want to develop that port. We believe that Hambantota is in the right place."

Liang fully agrees, and says that the port has "huge potential." He sees the planned completion of a new highway between Colombo and Hambantota, expected to be finished by October 2019, as a key "success factor" for the future viability of the port.

"I don't think that that we need to worry too much," he told DW. "Our relations with China are based on purely commercial viabilities and we believe that will continue to be the case and that we will not have any political pressure as such."

He says his government's focus has been on economic matters, and on those, they remain optimistic.

"I think we are ready, the economy has stabilized and now we are looking at bringing in investment and increasing our exports.

"We believe that is the only way to go forward — to move from a debt-filled, inward-looking economy to a private sector-led, auto-oriented economy. We have laid the foundations. The results won't be seen in the next couple of months but the foundations have been laid so in the next five or six years, we will get the result that we need."

Education at all cost

Sri Lanka's hopes lie with its children. Since the war ended children have attended school regularly. Most of them receive private tutoring which is often regarded as necessary for pupils to make it through high school. Parents attach great importance to education. This is why they scratch together enough money to pay for private tuition, although they often don't make more than four euros a day.

Expanding the rail network

The country's rail network has been expanding over the past years. Even intercity trains can reach locations at altitudes of more than one kilometer. Nowadays most people visit the renowned tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya by train. Moreover, public transportation is heavily subsidized with a second class train ticket costing about one euro for a 100-kilometer journey. Bus rides are even cheaper.

Meager wages in plantations

Ceylon tea is a highly profitable export good. It ranks alongside textiles, jewels, gems, tobacco and coconut products as one of the country's most important economic sectors. Sri Lanka is the world's second largest exporter of tea behind Kenya. But while it is a lucrative business, tea pluckers earn almost nothing, namely just around 3.50 euros a day.

Pride in religion

Regardless of whether you are sitting in a bus or a tuk tuk, you will be surrounded by gods. Hindus, Buddhists, Catholics and Muslims take pride in showing their religious symbols. About 70 percent of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, nearly 15 percent are Hindu, ten percent are Muslim and five percent are Christian.

Communities living side-by-side

Religious communities in the South Asian country coexist and respect each other. In many places you will find Buddhist pagodas standing alongside Hindu temples. You can listen to muezzins calling for prayer and Christians using loudspeakers during mass.

Yes to gossip, no to news

From the latest scandals in Bollywood to the most expensive weddings of the year: Sri Lankan media is full of gossip. What you will not find are independent political newspapers. The country ranked 162nd in this year's "Press Freedom Index" by Reporters Without Borders. Out of fear of repercussions, government-critical media outlets tend to impose self-censorship.

An essential industry

This is one of the country's 150,000 women who sew clothing for little money. The textile industry remains one of Sri Lanka's top sectors, despite facing tough competition from countries like Bangladesh. It contributes 45 percent of the country's foreign exchange revenue. There are currently some 300 textile factories, most of which were built in the 1990s.

Raising awareness

It is a start: Sri Lankans have begun recycling plastic bottles. However, you won't find any trash cans in many places. Environmental protection here is in its infancy. But firms such as the eco-friendly hotel chain Jetwing have taken the lead and started partnerships with schools to raise environmental awareness. The hope is that pupils will pass on the information to their parents.

Beach boys

They speak some English, are young and good-looking. Armed with a few charming phrases they are on the lookout for Western female tourists. Their hunting ground is the beach. Their main incentive is to have fun and earn some cash. Some dream of getting a visa to travel to the West. Beach boys are considered entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, a country where there are no brothels, unlike in Thailand.

Higher, faster, farther

The construction industry on the island is booming. From highways, to airports and countless hotels: the government is creating the necessary infrastructure to receive more than two million tourists every year in the near future; over 1.3 million people are expected to visit the country this year alone.

Local tourism

They come with their families and marvel at the landscape. For most Sri Lankan tourists, this is their first time on this beach in Arugam Bay. During the 26-year civil war it was practically impossible for most people to travel to the east and north coast of the country. Travelers would normally be stopped and questioned at one of the many checkpoints near the coastline.